Nice come from ahead effort in tonight's game. Still no road covers in Mountain West play. The lack of quality road wins could keep the Runnin' Rebels out of the NCAAs if UNLV is bounced early in the MWC tournament.

Not on the bubble per se, but I do think the Rebels need to sweep through the Mountain West Tournament to get a premium-type seed (meaning five-seed or above) and/or a favorable draw in either Albuquerque or Portland. Just a completely different team on the road, for whatever reason. They seem to be able to dictate the tempo of the game a lot better at the Thomas and Mack, which is understandable, as that's how it normally goes in the game of basketball. The home team usually dictates pace.

I watch this team a lot, and even heading into March, I can't put my finger on the exact problem. Rice is in his first season as a head coach, so he's got a learning curve. That probably plays a factor into making the right counter-adjustments, meaning adjustments after the other coach makes his own. I think the team does have some on-court leaders, but it just needs some more consistency, especially on the perimeter.

The thing is, if they get into the 3-2 game in the MWC Tourney, they'll likely have to beat both San Diego State AND New Mexico to win it. I think they can do that, but you'd rather not have that pathway, not to mention a potential tough game with a six-seed, if they draw the three. This team is still nails at home, and somebody will have to beat them at the Thomas and Mack ---- which hasn't happened yet. What happens in the Big Dance? I'd have to wait until the draw comes out.

I'll tell you how it happens, they jack it around the perimeter untill the shot clock gets to five and then they rush into some horrific shot. Then they back that up with terrible defense trading wide open jumpers and easy layups.

I'm a fan of the rebels and it is amazing how bad they play when it matters. Maybe they should have been blown out by UNC. Clearly the win did nothing to create an environment of discipline and hard work to have a solid season.

Big take-away from last night Mountain West play is none of them can play on the road. I'd be absolutely shocked if any of them make the sweet 16. Absolutely shocked.

the last 12 minutes were just horrible. 7 points against an undersized csu squad. as ryan said,they jack up way to many threes and do not have any inside presence. they try to rely on their quickness to compensate for bad defensive fundamentals and that works about a quarter of the time in d-1. the only team in the mwc that can get through more than one game in the tourney is new mexico. decent defense, good inside presence and nice outside shooting gives them a shot. all the others are pretenders.

The Rebels are 1-10 ATS on the highway this year and the 1 came in their very first true road game-- as chalk at Santa Barbara; a game that went to double OT before they covered. At the end of regulation, they are 0-fer the season in hostile environments.

Unfortunately, from a betting perspective, they've already played their last true road game of the year. Their regular season finale is here at the Thomas and Mack, as is the Mountain West Conference tournament. The next time this team leaves Sin City, it'll be for the Big Dance at a neutral site.

Andrew's point here is very valid. UNLV is likely to have a very tough time of it if they are matched up against a slowdown, defensive minded foe. I'd like their chances more in a rematch against uptempo North Carolina than I would in a sluggish affair against a Virginia or South Florida. We already saw what happened to UNLV's offense when they matched up against Wisky, and it wasn't pretty for anyone with a Rebels betting ticket in their pocket on that particular afternoon....

The worst thing that could have happened to UNLV last night was them hitting their first four threes in the game. They all the green lights after that and they werent afraid to hoist them up. I thought it was funny that they went to Massamba several times in the post on critical possessions down the stretch and never got anything from it.
They had mismatches with Stanback and Moser and even Marshall posting up the CSU guards, but thankfully didnt take advantage of them very often.
To top it off, their help defense was atrocious all night. They have great quickness and got some good stuff out of their traps, but if CSU beat the traps, they got lots of layups.
UNLV didnt appear to be a very well coached team last night. With their talent, no way they should be as poor as they are on the road.

Its not impossible that the MTN only gets 2 teams in there is no rule saying they get 3 or 4. I want to be a UNLV backer but they make it very hard. Watching AF/ CSU today showed me UNLV by far has more individual talent yet they lack a team concept also missing was heart anf guts. You need to look at Rice for failing to adjust to the second half disaters as it happened all season on the road again and again. Please Please get it together I want UNLV to have a good finish but I sure cannot bet on them MM

I believe the Rebels are not in shape to run the way they do and keep it up for 40 minutes. Thier 2nd half collapses in the past 2 months have been automatic. If Dave Rice is gonna play run and gun, he needs a deeper bench and players in better shape. They were getting the same shots in 2nd half vs. CSU but not making them, also their block out on the defensive boards were horrible in the 2nd half of that game. CSU got several 2nd chance points in their comeback. I remember TCU getting many 2nd chance points in their comeback earlier in the month as well. These 2nd chance points are indicative of "tired legs" since they clearly have more length and athleticism than CSU and TCU. When the body is tired the mind is tired as well. They do not do the little things that allow for winning basketball in the 2nd half of games.
At home they have the crowd to give them that extra adrenaline in the 2nd half but they almost gave it away against SDSU in the 2nd half at home as well after having a big lead.
Last night against Wyoming, the insertion of Kendall Wallace when Stanback was not performing was a huge lift for them in the 2nd half. Finally, Dave Rice has looked down his bench to make his team a deeper team. He has ignored up until now a key ingredient to being a running team and that is depth. He needs more players involved.

UNLV is out of shape. They play lights out in first half and give it all back in 2nd half. Lucky to pull out with win. They cannot run with the number of players that Dave Rice has in his rotation because by the middle of the 2nd half they are GASSED.

The Rebel's last 12 games have now gone under in the second half 10 times and the 2 overs were with the help of OT. They're 3-8-1 ATS in the 2nd half in those 12 games. They're going to have a tough time with New Mexico tonight if they keep this trend going.

Interesting to note the crowd support at the Thomas & Mack last night. Lobos fans were louder and more intense than than the Rebel fans -- if you were just listening to the game, you wouldn't have known that UNLV was the home team.

Rebels will get a bid, the wins over North Carolina, New Mexico and San Diego State virtually ensure it. But they certainly have 'one-and-done' written all over them, unless they match up with an opponent who's willing to run with them.

agree w/ all you guys who say one and done, looking for them in the 8-9 matchup now or at very best 7-10. Coaching moves/decisions very questionable at best. Obvious reason for picking Rice as HC is that brother is HC at high school power Bishop Gorman, they're obviously trying to create some sort of pipeline to keep all the imported talent Gorman is getting in LV. At least we'll have an easy first round winner

Thought I would be picking against UNLV but they got a nice matchup. They are playing a team that WOULD NOT have been in the tourney until they won yesterday. Also they are playing in a venue they play in every year. So I like UNLV to advance here.